Phased array antennas are widely used for directing one or more beams of radiation in desired directions for transmission of radiant energy and for reception of radiant energy. In a typical phased array antenna, there is a plurality of radiators, each of which contains a radiating element of the antenna where the relative phase of radio frequency (RF) waves propagated through each radiating element can be controlled to steer the “beam” of the antenna's radiation pattern. In one type of phased array antenna, known as active arrays (an antenna comprising multiple low power transmitter elements), each radiating element has associated electronics that include amplifiers and phase shifters to support transmit and receive for the radiation.
The distributed nature of the active array architecture offers advantages in a wide variety of applications. As one example, a satellite may include an antenna system of this type that facilitates communication between the satellite and one or more ground stations on earth. However, typical active phased array antenna systems use common transmitter modules and waveforms for each of the independent elements and may give rise to overall issues of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) or damage with respect to other systems and objects such as Co-channel Interference on cellular communication systems, detected power levels above FCC mandated levels, or radiation damage to living objects.